1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to apparatuses for collecting measurement data and, more particularly, to control and analysis of measured data adaptable to different kinds of measuring instruments.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various kinds of controls such as product control and process control are performed when producing goods. The product control will be considered below. In order to control the quality of products and so on and to ensure that products are stably manufactured, it is necessary to periodically measure produced parts and finished products, as well as production equipment such as manufacturing equipment and dies, to check whether the manufactured parts comply with the specifications.
Inspection is performed to measure the size, precision, and so on of the goods and check whether they comply with the specifications or whether they exhibit an abnormal appearance. Generally, a measurer fills in predetermined positions in a predetermined form with measurement results obtained. Then, a manager, a schedule controller, or the like (one person may play both these roles) performs an analysis based on the form to carry out the maintenance and the like of the production equipment and measuring instruments.
Assisting apparatuses have been proposed for processing, for example, the measurement results input for the purpose of assisting such measuring jobs. The assisting apparatuses are designed to store measurement results collected (hereinafter, referred to as measurement data) in storage means within a collection apparatus or outside thereof.
In these assisting apparatuses, for example, measurement information for providing the measurer with measurement instructions is based on a measurement descriptor table, in which records describing objects to be measured, measurement locations, required measurement data, and kinds of measuring instruments used are arranged, and a control table having command extraction tables provided for each kind of measuring instrument. The control table is created by re-arranging the records in the measurement descriptor table in order of measurement action and by automatically extracting them into one or a plurality of records that include commands corresponding to each element in the measurement descriptor table and to the measuring instruments used, and instruction information for the measurer. The assisting apparatuses give instructions to the measurer in accordance with the contents of the control table. The measurement data is collected by activating means for giving commands to the measuring instruments used in accordance with the contents of the control table and means for storing in order of measurement the data measured based on the given commands.
However, in the assisting apparatuses described above, the measuring instruments that can directly transmit and receive data signals to and from the apparatus are limited to the ones that can output signals including digital data based on command instructions. For the measuring instruments without such a function being used, for example, when an appearance test is performed, the measurer fills in a form of a paper medium with the measurement results and later inputs them as data into a host computer and so on. Therefore, such a system that prevents careless mistakes relating to the measurement such as entry errors, missing entries, and measurement errors (mixing up of the measuring instruments) has not yet been established. Also, it is hard to keep track of the status of measurement jobs. Worse still, the measurement data can only be input from the measuring instruments.